We know that a big part of the CCSS is to include more informational texts into ourstudents' reading. I quickly discovered I had a "gap" in my reading diet - the genre of informational texts! To help me fill the gap this year, I am going to participate in Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesdays! This is a great link-up hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy. Please visit this website to see other educator's link-ups. My goal is to read at least one informational text each week and post information on the blog. The more books and subjects I read, the more I can encourage (my #OLW for 2014) other teachers to use in their classroom!
I recently read Sandra Markle's new book in the "Mystery of..." series (not really the name of the series, but what I'm calling it here), The Mystery of the Vanishing Little Brown Bat, published September 1, 2014. In this book, the author presents the problem (the little brown bat species found in the northeast part of the US was dying during the winter by the hundreds) and explains the steps the scientists took to solve the mystery.
I love these books for the elementary age student. The Scientists in the Field series is a little too advanced for 3rd-4th graders, but this series fits them well. The text structure of problem/solution presents clearly. The steps the scientists take are easy to follow in narrative order. I like that they talk about the various hypotheses the scientists propose and show that the results do not always answer the question. The photographs are sharp and give even more detail to the animal for the reader to visualize. The captions and sidebars give additional information and adds to the reader's understanding.
Try one of these titles in your classroom today!
We're talking about text structures this week, and you remind me to take these Sandra Markle books out of my picture book crates as mentor texts of the problem/solution structure! Thank you! Sandra Markle is a wonderful NF author!!
ReplyDeleteThese look gorgeous! Great resources.
ReplyDeleteI need to get these for my second grade classroom. I just discovered Sandra Markle when I was sitting up my new classroom this year. These sound just perfect.
ReplyDeleteI've read The Case of The Vanishing Little Brown Bats, enjoyed it thoroughly. I didn't know there were others, so thanks for all of the titles, Michele.
ReplyDeleteI read the Vanishing Golden Frog and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI've read The Case of the Vanishing Honeybee but will need to check on the others. I think I'll try the frog first.
ReplyDeleteI found the frog title in this series fascinating. I want to read the one about the honeybees and then the bats. Although, it is all quite depressing.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, all the book covers look stunning!
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